Tap Into Your Inner Artist In Italy

Paint, Cook, Draw, Photograph

Under the radar in the heart of Tuscany, Il Chiostro, (“the cloister,” the central square inside a monastery) has been an energy center for creative travelers and magnet for solos since 1995.

Steeped in traditional Tuscan values that reach back to the essentials of living: beauty, taste, community, nature, Il Chiostro offers workshops in painting, photography, fiction writing, cooking, singing, acting, poetry, creativity, yoga – -  to deliver the optimal experience in and of the very location of your workshop – Bologna, Lake Garda, Cortona and others. Small groups.  Passionate instructors.

Owned and created by Linda Mironti and Michael Mele, warm and welcoming Italian Americans who live in NYC and Italy. Both have strong backgrounds in the arts. Linda was a singer and a chef, and Michael, a dancer-choreographer turned fiction writer. “For us Il Chiostro is a metaphor. Take yourself away from your hectic, demanding life and place yourself in a beautiful, seductive environment that will allow your spirit a chance to breathe.”

Hot Shot Highlight: Venice via iPhone

One of the most thrilling cameras in the history of photography—hardly a secret — is neatly parked in the iPhone. No mere snap-shooter, the iPhone is a powerful creative tool that both invites and inspires images without the techno-load. Learn to better capture, as well as process, images in the field in an ultra-special Il Chiostro workshop in Venice  – - and be thrilled by the color, depth, and texture of your results.

Dan Burkholder is the professional photo workshop wiz, an award-winning author and instructor of 15+ years. Ever heard of the Eye-Fi memory card? Dan has!  His one-week workshop will take place from October 14 – 21, 2012. Sleep in a 15th c. former convent, wander the back streets, cross the little humps of bridges, sip a Bellini at Harry’s, float in a gondola, and gather for meals and special events in preparation for an exhibit to be staged at the end of the week.

Check out Il Chiostro’s extraordinary, eye-popping array of exceptional art/culture/culinary programs taking place all summer and fall in many marvelous locations: Click: www.ilchiostro.com.  To know more, call Linda and Michael in NYC at 800-990-3506.

 

 

 

Paint, Shoot, Fly Into The Bugaboos!

Canadian Summer Art Workshops

Painters and photographers, here’s the perfect summer trip for solo travelers: a chance to study with the masters in British Columbia’s immense and thrilling Bugaboos mountain range — some of the most extraordinary natural scenery in the Americas.

From August 5-8, 2012, guests of Canadian Mountain Holidays Summer Adventures can enroll in a “Photography Workshop with John E. Marriott,” acclaimed wilderness photographer. This is his third straight year of alpine adventures. The chopper will fly your small camera-totin’ group into virgin wilderness to capture the most dramatic digital images of wildflowers, jagged granite spires and glacial lakes. In the evenings, join Marriott back at the lodge for gourmet alpine dinners served family-style and hang out for evening discussions of techniques and technology. CAD 3,065. (approx $3,090). Click: www.canadianmountainholidays.com/heli-hiking/trips/photography-workshop

From September 4-7, 2012, renowned Canadian painters Robert Genn and Liz Wiltzen will, for the third straight year, lead guests for 3 days in their “Painting Workshop in the Bugaboos.” Artists-in-training will be dropped off by helicopter in remote areas of the inspirational Purcell Mountains together with mentors Gen and Wiltzen to paint in a heaven on earth. CAD 3,405.  (approx US $3433.)  Click: www.canadianmountainholidays.com/heli-hiking/trips/painting

Voted “Best Heli-Adventure Company on Earth” by National Geographic ADVENTURE Magazine, CMH Heli-Skiing & Summer Adventures is the oldest (est. 1965) and largest heli-skiing and heli-hiking operator in the world, operating from 11 lodges. Rates are per person, based on double occupancy.

Please click: www.canadianmountainholidays.com to check out their many adventure ideas and options up there in the wilds. Or call a CMH expert at 800-661-0252.